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Magic
Magic, and by that we mean the practical application of extranormal physics to the material world, is a very real phenomenon in the world of Kournia. It is difficult to determine at what point in history magic, as harnessed by humanity, began in the world, but given that time is only one aspect of the Tapestry, the fact that magic exists in the present means that magic as a core concept has always existed and will always exist. Magic has two core 'rules' (named Hermeus' Two Laws): 1. The force commonly known as belief exerts a real and measurable pressure on the natural world. 2. The Tapestry exists in more than three dimensions, encompassing not only the real but all realms of what could possibly exist. Thus everything derived from magic is somehow derived from a derivatable, but probable, world. The third rule of magic (Jennah's Law) is sometimes considered an extension of Hermus' Second Law. It states that: in any measurable determination of how much belief is required to derive an effect from magic, the amount of belief required increases exponentially the more improbable the universe it is drawn from. The Source of Magic The source of Magic, if it can be called a source, is the extra-dimensional space that exists outside the Tapestry. This bizzare, endless non-world is known only as 'The Outer Realms' to the inhabitants of Kournia. From the writings of Bahadin al-Shaddar the Wise Leylines represent inherent 'fractures' in reality which make drawing on the power of the Outer Realms easier. Leylines can therefore be conceived as 'energy flows' only in an indirect sense; being locations where the ethereal power of the Outer draws near. Our world, the Material Realm, exists within the chaos of the Outer Realms and is but one facet of existence. The human soul, however, is unique within the Material Realm - it possesses Conciousness. The ability to reason and think, to conceive of self-identity, is unique amongst the animal kingdom. The human is thus afforded an elevated existence. The existence of a human soul, self-aware and cognisant, is an existence more profound than the rest of the Material. The reality of the human soul echoes elsewhere and can be perceived, perhaps, even from the chaos of the Outer Realms. Accordingly, the soul can be considered a tangible (though very small) fracture in reality, in the same sense as a leyline. Although the power of any individual soul is weak, collectively the human race can generate great force. The soul can be differentiated from the leyline, however, in that it exists under the direction of the Concious mind. Thus, whereas the leyline exists as a wild and untempered force, the soul can be directed and harnessed. A magic user can, in simplest terms, be viewed merely as a human being whose soul, by whatever agency, represents a much more potent fracture in the Tapestry of the Material Realm. With practice, a magic user's Conscious mind can direct the nature of this facture, draw in some particular element of the Outer Realms, and manifest supernatural Change in this world. Succesfully enacting a Change requires extreme levels of concentration and force of will, as reaching blindly or uncertaintly into the Outer Realms will infallibly result in unintended consequences. The possible Changes that lie within the Outer Realms themselves are nearly infinite; and enacting only the precise Change required is therefore difficult. A magic user that sites his or herself upon a leyline will find that this is significantly easier to accomplish. The prescence of the leyline signifies that the strength of the Tapestry in general is much weaker in the area; drawing in power from the Outer Realms is therefore a simpler affair. Those unused to the effect may find that the effort normally exerted on a simple Change produces widespread and unintended effects as the puncture in the Tapestry is much larger than anticipated. With practice, however, a magic user may harness the inate properties of the leyline to enact much greater Change on the world than would elsewise be possible. A magic user may further bolster their strength by harnessing the innate power of other souls. Although most individual human souls are incapable of enacting true Change in the same way as a magic user, en masse the souls of a large group of humans may generate a significant fracture. Unfortunately, due to the disparate nature of the human mind, it is virtually impossible to cause a wide diversity of minds to concentrate on the same concept with sufficient clarity to directly enact a Change. Accordingly, those wishing to harness the power inherent in the souls of others must attempt to do so both en masse and in a regimented fashion. The most common method of accomplishing this is to encourage many Concious minds to focus on the simplist possible concept. The simpler a concept is, the more likely that many Concious minds will be able to focus on it in tandem. A cynical mind may note that humans are at their most credulous when it comes to matters of religion. Concious Worship of an individual, in which that individual is accredited with great power, may result in a perceptible increase in that individual's power. A magic user can thus find the enacting of Change in general easier when a service of devoted followers focuses on him or her in their prayers. One hypothesises that all the Gods of this world began in such a form, and have ammased such great power from their followers as to be unrecognisable. In the alternate, the Concious attention of many followers may be harnessed by a mass Ritual; wherein a great mass of individuals are made to focus attention on a specific Change. In order to succesfully co-ordinate so many Concious minds, it is common to utilise tools such as mass chanting or ritual motions to achieve sufficient uniform focus on the desired Change. Astute minds may note that the nature of both leylines and the human souls leave open the possibility that a Change may be enacted independantly of the Concious direction of a magic user. If leylines represent fractures in reality, is it not possible for the Outer Realms to intrude of their own accord? If the human souls of non-magic users could be directed on mass, could they not effect change without requiring a magic-user's direction? One must acknowledge the possibility of such things; but the lack of evidence of such occurences suggests that if they are, indeed, possible, then they are surpassingly rare. Magical Ability Exactly when humanity gained the ability to use belief as a force to influence the world is uncertain. Certainly the Kataigithans could use magic, as there is cultural evidence of shamans existing and communicating with their Crocodile god. But it was not until the civilisations of the (3) period that magic as an ability became a field of study. Magic is considered unique to humanity (though there is some scholarly dispute over whether certain serpents are capable of its use): an adaptation of a genome allowing influence over belief and pressing it onto the world around. Do we have a 'magical organ' in humans? If so, why can some use it but not all. Or can everyone use it? Do the mage hunters surgically remove it? Seems better to have a diffuse set of organs (like a web with clusters) then. ---- 'I would argue in favour of the exact biological link being unknown; other than it seems to be genetic. I also don't think the civilisations of this world would know the concept of 'genome'.' It takes effort on part of the mage to cause change in the world. Many describe this sensation as no different to moving a limb, albeit one not in this plane of existence. Young mages can be dangerous as they can lash out with possibility before they learn control, leaning on the idea that this ability works just like any other part of the body. It seems that a sort of cultural selection has led to certain populations having greater ability in magic than others, but ultimately the ability works like any other muscle. It starts out small as a child, and through regular use and training it grows. Indeed, many magical academies liken the discipline required to train magical ability to the same required to train one's own body and incorporate extensive combat training into their curriculums. The Golden Crane Academy, for instance, is both a magical academy and a retreat for an order of militant monks. The Three Schools of Magic Magic can roughly be broken down into three 'schools', each based on an approach taken to control possibility. Practice of Dynamics - Can we get a better term than Dynamism? I dunno, to me it conjures images of classical fireball-flinging rather than the subtle influence it seems to be. Just a thought. '--Related to below notes, I suggest using 'Practice' for the broad categories and 'School' for the specific applications eg Necromancy. So - Practice of Dynamics (or whatever)' This is the purest form of magic: drawing on those universes closest to Kournia. The most commonly used example to describe Dynamism (as it is colloquially called) is described by Methis the Younger in (3): A student stands in a desert. There is no kindling at hand, thus it is highly improbable that a fire will start. This student thus requires a massive effort to draw on the possibility that at some point in time somebody will enter this area with kindling, and so cause that kindling to be brought into present possibility, and so cause a fire to be lit from it. However, say that student brought with them kindling but no means to light it. That student will similarly require massive effort to draw on the possibility that at some point in time somebody will enter this area carrying flint and steel, or much less effort to draw on the spark of a possible desert lightning storm to light a fire on it. Say, however, the student brought with them kindling, flint, and steel. It thus requires only a marginal effort on the part of the student to believe that the kindling has already been lit, and so light the fire. In such a way, those things closest to the realm of possibility (that the student might light the kindling with flint and steel) are easiest to believe into existence. The more distant the possibility, the exponentially more difficult it becomes for the student to light the fire using belief. Indeed, experiments on this theory have shown that a student with no knowledge of using flint nor steel, but simply given the objects and told to hold them, will find it as difficult to light the fire as if they were not holding the objects at all. Unfortunately, the reverse does not hold true. A student given two other objects which could not make fire when struck together finds it equally difficult to believe the fire lit despite being assured that those two objects will make fire. Thus it appears that both belief and possibility are necessary. Practice of the Arcane '--Related to below notes, I suggest using 'Practice' for the broad categories and 'School' for the specific applications eg Elementalism. So - Practice of the Arcane' This form of magic, unlike Dynamism, is learned through rote practice. Arcanists learn a specific path through which to guide an object, based on the experiments and writings of past arcanists. So, for example, to create a ball of fire (continuing Methis the Younger's example from above) the student uses a rote memory technique to draw a ball of fire from a specified point in the past (presumably where they were shown the arcane spell by a teacher) to the present, and similarly uses a rote memory technique to draw the position from that place to be the same position in space as where they desire the ball to appear. The resulting 'fade in' of the spell often creates an impression that the ball of fire has been 'thrown'. Note: this section makes the least sense, and we need to work on how exactly this works out. You seem to have gone for more of a multidimensional approach than I have (so people don't just reach through to possible versions of events in time: 5th dimension, but also to possible universes with different physics: 6th dimension and up). Given this approach, do we have a 'Planes of Existence' approach where the different forms of magic reach through and pull things through from other planes? If this is the approach we take, I like that Dynamism works by only pulling through from a 5th dimension and thus is solely attached to the material plane. '---Suggestion: wheras Dynasim (or alternate name if we use one) focuses on manpulation of possible timelines; and Alchemicus (below) focuses on matter; and say Necromancy involves human souls; The Arcane focuses on accessing raw Energy in various forms from alternate dimensions. This may involve brining in massive and inexplicable flashes of heat, light, sound, etc with all the after-shock that this entails; you can therefore get classical lightning flashes or fireballs, but it would scale up to Iron Man 3-Style heat flashes without much effort. People who screw it up/kamikaze may draw in radiation, atom-splitting levels of energy or even anti-matter, explaining why it is the forbidden school. ' '--If above suggestion taken, then shortcuts in distance should probably be a seperate practice.' Arcanism makes use of items as shortcuts in distance. The tome of spells that many will often see an arcanist carrying is no more than a link to the place (as the tomes are manufactured in the academy the spell is first performed in) and the time (through the ink inscriptions done by the student) that the spell was first cast. But the tome is only one of many such tools of memory. A stave grown of a tree in a glade in which the spell was cast, and then inscribed for each spell, will be just as effective. Sadly, all of these methods limit the arcanist who, on learning a new spell outside of their academy, must inscribe the spell in a new tome or object, and then use that object to cast the spell until they can return to their academy and consolidate it within their core tome. Experimentation in Arcanism can be very dangerous. While dynamists search only for the closest possible universe, and thus for changes not too significant, arcanist traditions often link students to a universe of pure impossibility. Thus a spell which creates a large fireball, if pushed, could result in a larger fireball or could result in the summoning of a fireserpent, or could wink out of existence entirely (and the arcanist along with it). As a result, experimental arcanists are often kept at some distance, and the magical academies have become stagnant and conservative in their methods. Practice of Necromancy '- I think necromancy can actually qualify as an entire Practice due to conceptual basis: Dynamics involves tapping into alternate possibility; Arcane involves bringing down raw stuff from other dimensions; but Necromancy deals with the Human Soul, which get's its own special snowflake category. All the more specific forms listed below (except the Divine) can be thought of as a sub-set of one of the three.' Whilst it is considered very difficult to bring somebody back to life whole, and this practice is considered highly dangerous (because you are drawing someone from a different possibility and thus they may not come through the same person) necromancy does not have a negative reputation. Echoes of a person can be called on for their wisdom, or bound to a form for a time. It is theorised that a god of death has some influence in this area and actively fights to prevent true resurrection (i.e. resurrection of anything more than an echo), which may explain why dynamists find it incredibly difficult to truly resurrect a person the longer it has been since they died. ' I agree with your thoughts on the God of Death defending his turf. I moved the bit about the 'Walker Necromancy Academy Group below and called it a sub-School of the broader practice of Necromancy; agree? The Major Schools - The Honed Forms of Dynamism, Necromancy and the Arcane '---Suggestion: subschools might work better if they are seperate to the forbidden practice of the Arcane. This can be done with a simple name-change: the classic term 'Schools of Magic' works well if each is literally tied to a specific originating-Academy, which seems to be the case. The Schools are therefore very specific applications of known practices. ' Whilst Dynamism is just that: dynamic, and Divine magic is usually sourced directly from a god, the Schools are '''based on long tradition. In some ways '''this is more powerful than Dynamism as it can produce more powerful magic, but in other ways it is much less flexible. The realms of possibility that the Schools reach through are less attached to the material. Thus they must be handled carefully and with a great deal of practice. It is more conservative due to its inherent dangers, and has resulted in a number of sub-schools of magical ability (called a variety of names, but for our purposes 'Arcana'). Delete the highlighted bit due to proposed terminology changes? Different academies will focus on different Schools, based on tradition or locality. The Green Mantis Academy of Walking Civilisation, for instance, focuses strongly on Spiritualism (probably due to their history of ancestor-worship). The Werewalkers of the Kingdom on the other hand have only a weak grasp on this Arcana, but a strong focus on Elementalism, and are unique amongst the kingdoms to have an Arcanum devoted to shapeshifting oneself. The following list is far from conclusive, and each Arcane Academy will teach its traditions slightly differently, but this gives a rough summary to the possible Arcana: *'Elementalism '- The control of the elements; a School of Dynamism which involves influencing possible local weather patterns. Usually includes things like heat, wind, water and weather. Some research has suggested it draws possibility from a plane of elements. This school invlves highly primal and impressive displays, but does not require finesse and so can be considered of intermediate difficulty. Many tribal and seafaring cultures develop this School to some degree; most notably worshippers academy of somekind? *'Divination - '''A school of Dynamism. Many who practice Dynamism may glean insights as to possible courses of the future; exploratons of the possibilities of the Outer Realms often lead to premonitions of likely danger. The school of Divination centres around mastering this ability, and harnessing it to answer specific or urgent questions. Divination requires some degree of finesse, and is most prominently taught by the revered insitution at pot island academy. *'Spiritualism''' - Spiritualism involves a focus on the summoning of the echoes of individual human souls. It is a simple school within the field of Necromancy; the ascendant nature of the human soul renders them easy to perceive in the Outer realms. A school of The Walker Necromancy Academy Group is the best at this form of Arcana, and many of their classes are actually taught by echoes. *'Animation '- A school of Necromancy that involves tampering with one's own soul. A master of Necromancy may be able to force their own soul into parallel existences within the Material Realm; creating a 'sub-soul' or 'sub-conciousness' at the command of the original magic-user. This practice can only accomplish incomplete copies , however, and for this reason the 'sub-souls' are often anchored within corpses, known colloquially as 'zombies'. Although considered unsettling, general agreement among magic-users is that the soul has a clear existence seperate from the body, and so use of the empty 'shells' left behind by the dead is an acceptable practice. Animation can also be utilised to control the corpses of animals, but cannot effect any living being directly, human or otherwise. Since the fall of Atlantis, the greatest academy of Animation is pot island academy no2 *'Alchemicus '- Alchemicus is a school of dynamism that was founded on the ideas of Xeno in his famous Paradoxes. The Paradoxes of Xeno examined the notion that space, or time, could infinitely divided. Practictioners of Alchemicus claim that all material things are comprised of discrete Components of base Elements (editors note - Component = Atom, history I am giving is pretty close to real-world Classical Greek philosophy). Further, Alchemicists claim that Components cannot be further divided; and that magic, if applied with proper finesse, may effect even an individual Component. Alchemicus is considered perhaps the most difficult of practices. Particularly, the dream of Alchemicus - the Transmutation of one kind of base Element into another at Component level - remains purely legendary, and indeed many claim that to accomplish this would require the forbidden Practice of Arcanism. Alchemicus is considered by many to run dangerously close to forbidden magic. Despit this, Alchemicus remains a recognised School due to it's usefulness; as the easiest application of Alchemicus is the spectacular Disintegration of material objects. The only known academy of Alchemicus is pot island academy no 3 *'Metamorphosis '- Unique to the Werewalkers, this form of magic involves changing oneself in part or whole. Part-body metamorphosis is often used in the Moon Kingdom for things such as increased physical prowess, or night-vision. During nights of the full moon, they can even transform their entire self. Those who study the underlying systems of Magic are often at a loss to explain precisely which Practice this ability falls under **''Report of Abu Ibn Battuta, the Farstrider, to the High Academy at Pot Island? - Learned Masters; I accept that general concensus amongst the Wise is that this Metamorphosis of the Lunar Empire must be some form of Alchemicus, if it exists at all. But I state again that our understanding of the Outer Realms simply cannot accomodate the reality. Alchemicus focuses on the Transmutation of base Elements, which we know to include Gold, Iron and Stone. I reject the notion that Wolf and Human may also constitute base Elements; the idea is ludicrous. I urgently request further expeditions be sent to study these people and understand how they work their power. As terrifying as the actual Metamorphisis is to witness - and I assue the Learned Masters that it is - more frightening still is that this ability seems to undermine our understanding of the very nature of the Arcane.'' *'Perhaps they have some link to the divine? Like... they can transform their entire self but without some allegiance to the Moon God, they have nobody to keep them sane and turn them back. That means there's always the possibility of accidental werewolfiness lost in the mind of a wolf. ---Like the idea of mad Werewolves, always a classic. Edited in a bit of mystery as to how exactly it is accomplished.' *'More to be added.' School of the Divine While not technically a 'school', this magical form is a roundabout method to the casting of magic. As the existence of divine beings (gods and archmages) is predicated on the strength of belief in their existence, these beings feed off of the belief generated by their followers. Thus while an arcanist may expend their powers of belief into changing possibility directly, a priest (or cleric or shaman, depending on the culture) will channel the whole of their power to their chosen master. So, for instance, a Priest of Uldinar who sits in quiet contemplation each morning is actually channelling away the majority of their belief to Uldinar. This results in a few significant differences between the priests and the more direct dynamists or arcanists. Firstly, a priest will exhaust their force of belief either throughout the day (as those who reside in temples usually do) or in a single draining ritual at a defined point in the day (as those who adventure find more convenient). Secondly, the priest does not cast magic directly: all magic done is done by the divine being at the priest's plea. This means that a priest's power fluctuates. Most divine beings will ration out their own attention in amounts corresponding to the power they received. But certain momentous occasions can sway that being into helping more, and a momentous occasion elsewhere (or breaking a tenet of the religion) can result in a priest being ignored for a time. The more powerful a priest becomes, the more bargaining power they will have with their divine being. A priest's power will also fluctuate as certain lay conditions affect their god. For example, a Priest of Nethyr, god of night horrors, will be more powerful when night comes and the belief in night's horror is strong in the hearts of laymen. Yet during the day, that power will wane significantly. Shapeshifters of Kingdom use this to a powerful effect, able to change their entire bodies into the forms of animals on the full moon. Thirdly, the belief alotted on a priest's behalf will never be as strong as if the priest simply used the belief themselves. This is due to two factors: the Laws of Arcano-entropy which state that in any transfer of belief some is lost to entropy; and also because the divine being will often conserve a tithe of the belief to consolidate their own power. Finally, the process of achieving godhood is different for priests. They may ascend to become saints under their god's pantheon but they will still owe their force of belief to that divine being. For instance, Kauton is considered a saint of Wodin, representing Wodin's aspect of 'the gambler'. A Priest of Wodin might therefore send their force of belief to Kauton rather than to Wodin directly, if they have a particular affinity with gambling. As seen above, this results in a greater arcano-entropy as Kauton must send this belief to Wodin before an intercession takes place. However, it means that Kauton has assured a degree of Wodin's power will go into protecting gamblers, and Kauton himself might save some of this belief for his own use if he believes that Wodin is not doing so sufficiently. In such a way, the pantheons also shift as particular saints gain prominence and unneeded gods fade into obscurity. The ultimate source of divine power is unknown and only speculated on. Some, such as Methis the Younger, believe that on reaching supreme ascendancy over a pantheon, a saint takes on the role of the god and uses their power as a dynamist or arcanist might, although their 'rote' learning, if there is any, is tailored to the specific aspect of godhood that they embody. Others, such as Jennah, believe that they yet derive their power from a more ultimate source: the elemental beings that embody an idea, such as the 'storm' or 'trickster', and that only one removed from the material plane can hope to comprehend these beings and so entreat their help. Ascendancy The most powerful mages are capable of incredible feats: Dynamists able to summon a ferocious lightning storm to a clear sky; Arcanists able to raze whole armies with strikes from sky-rocks; Priests infused with the temporary power of a god, striding through battles with impervious skin and eyes of holy fire. But these feats pale in comparison to those done by the Ascended. Ascendency happens differently for the different schools of magic. But the School of Dynamics sums up its basic approach. A mage is capable of pulling objects or possibilities through the fabric of reality. But they are always anchored in their own world. When a mage becomes powerful enough, they become capable of loosening their own connection to this world, and capable of pulling themselves through that fabric and eventually outside of it altogether. Possibility becomes reality for them. These are termed the Ascended. Those Ascended who were once Priests often take on an aspect of their god, and become Saints. Those who were once Dynamists or Arcanists have plans of their own. Some protect their family line through time, others might rule a civilisation as a Mage King. Metagaming Notes We need to determine a proper system for the use of magic. However, it does allow a certain degree of scaling and clever use. The Laws of Arcano-entropy are like the Laws of Thermodynamics. One of them is that the entropy of a closed system approaches zero as the distance from a layline source of power approaches zero. This means that temples to gods are often built on laylines, and priests will tend not to stray far from temples where they will lose more belief through transfer. But also that adventurous priests are more powerful in temples to their gods, or when they set up shrines on important lay areas to their god. Need to update the part on the gods, and elemental beings. A whole page on the gods would be helpful for clarification too, I feel. Category:Magic Category:Gods Category:System Mechanics